Duke and the Buffalo

In an environment where resources are finite and predators no longer exist, ecological stability greatly depends on keeping the number of bison to a sustainable level. To meet that challenge, and to preserve this endangered animal as a wild herd, The Nature Conservancy relies on a unique partnership with Duke, also a cattle rancher, and his crew of horsemen. Once a year, they ride out on the risky and high-stakes mission of rounding up a herd of wild animals.

Duke and the Buffalo takes place on the Medano-Zapata Ranch, a 100,000-acre tract of land in Colorado owned by The Nature Conservancy. The film follows the story of Duke Phillips, who manages the ranch, as he presides over the landscape’s most distinctive feature – one of the largest conservation herds of bison in the United States.

Duke represents a new breed of rancher, as much environmentalist as American cowboy.